The handling of high pressure gas for the purpose of sparkling beverage making was typically done using a heavy walled pressure vessel. In this regard, making a beverage typically involved infusing a gas into water to create carbonated water and then mixing the gas infused water with ingredients to form the beverage. The ingredient and water parts of the beverage were relatively easy to handle, ship, and mix on site or in a factory. The gas on the other hand, had to be delivered to the factory in high pressure vessels by special purpose vehicles and/or produced onsite in the factory. In addition, when smaller quantities of the gas were needed to be delivered to an outlet, such as a quick serve restaurant, it was typically done by way of beverage company truck delivery, not a regular postal delivery service.
This model, with the costs of logistics, and need for heavy wall high pressure vessel filling, handling, and recycling can serve to abate and make impractical gas delivery models for low volume home or office dispenser locations. In addition, there are many postal services that ban or restrict the shipment of high pressure gasses. As such a consumer who might order supplies for a home or office dispenser might be able to receive by postal courier the ingredients but not the high pressure gas.
Another shortcoming was in the beverage quality of packaged or pod based tea, coffee, and other beverage products reconstituted from concentrates, powders, or syrups. In this regard, by the very nature of how the ingredients are manufactured for package or pod based beverage systems, the aroma is lost or added to the ingredients where it then typically degrades before the consumer can enjoy. Aroma is a big consumer attribute in many beverages such as teas, coffees, and citrus beverages to name a few; however packaged and pod based system lack the ability to produce aroma rich beverages. As such, making an authentic tea or fresh brewed coffee, or fresh squeezed citrus beverage from package or pod based system was difficult and often relied on or employed unsuccessful techniques.
Another shortcoming was the ability to make beverage making systems that deliver an array of high quality sparking (gas infused) and still (non-gas infused) beverages in a small compact form factor and equipment footprint, as to make a system well suited for size constrained locations and countertops. Larger systems that require lots of space for ingredients, tanks, drain tubes, ice making, and other items are too large for many locations and thus unsuited for many new market opportunities.
Another shortcoming was that there were few options to turn bulk water dispensers into high quality flavored and customized beverages. Such bulk water type dispensers can typically include thermoses, sport type coolers, water coolers, and bulk water tank type facilities or stations often found in developing parts of the world. With regards to water in the developing world, too often these consumers don't have the opportunity to experience safe clean high quality flavored beverages. As such, water treatment techniques combined with beverage making technology, in simple easy to use forms, is in demand and very much needed around the world.